Margriet Lenkens

Margriet Lenkens is an MSc Researcher at the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, specializing in the Youth and Family research group at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her research focuses on understanding pathways to desistance from criminal behavior and improving outcomes for at-risk youth through various support mechanisms.

Her primary research areas include:

• Desistance from criminal and delinquent behavior
• Experiential peer support interventions
• Mentoring approaches for young adults
• Social capital development among vulnerable populations
• Help-seeking behaviors in at-risk youth
• Mixed-methods research approaches

Dr. Lenkens' recent publications demonstrate a systematic approach to understanding how lived experience can facilitate rehabilitation, with particular emphasis on realist literature reviews and multi-method empirical studies. Her work bridges criminology, psychology, and social work perspectives to develop evidence-based interventions for criminal justice populations.

Her research has received recognition through:

• Dragon's Den (DPECS) award on December 14, 2022

Dr. Lenkens has been featured in media outlets including an expert commentary 'Relschopper wordt rolmodel' on January 25, 2022, where she provided academic insights on former offenders becoming role models. Her publications have garnered significant academic attention with multiple papers receiving dozens of reader mentions on platforms like Mendeley and Scopus citations.

She collaborates extensively with researchers including van Lenthe, F.J., Schenk, L., Sentse, M., Severiens, S., Engbersen, G., and Nagelhout, G.E. on projects related to youth development, criminal desistance, and social support systems within the Youth and Family research unit.